Thanks for the info! Sorry to hear the dealer wasn't helpful. I replaced the motor (about $150 for the part). Everything works ok. One of the two braided copper wires feeding power to the brushes was broken off where it attaches to the brush, but I don't know if I did this during my ham-handed disassembly of the motor or if it was the cause.
Your problem may be similar to the problem that I experienced (look at my
> posts re these window motors) If these are the same motors you may solve
> your problem by opening the motor and locate both of the braided brush wires
> and tug on each until no more slack can be pulled up through the hole in the
> plastic housing (a daub of epoxy might be useful in preventing these wires
> from slipping back down behind the plastic housing) [The actual problem is
> that if these braided brush cables have enough slack below the plastic
> housing they are able to short out on the uninsulated metal motor housing or
> one another.]
> I made my dealership here in Ottawa Ontario Canada aware of this problem
> after they charged me about $300 to remove and replace a window motor on my
> Buick even though the motor was not really broken [ just poorly assembled] >
> The following is a letter that I sent to my dealership.
> see the fol thread in this group.
> Re: 94 Lesabre Pwr Window needs tap to go up from full down position >
>
> Hi guys (Surgenor Pontiac Buick)
>
> This information may be of interest to your service department. I recently
> had a rear window motor replaced on my Buick. (I had asked for the dead
> motor in order to use for an electric crossfeed on one of my small lathes.)
> To make a long story short there was nothing wrong with the motor that was
> returned to me except that the braded brush cables were shorting out on the
> bare metal housing of the motor. There is no positive way built into this
> motor to keep these wires from shorting out on the motor housing. There is
> also no insulation between the wires and the housing and as a result they
> short out on the housing and showing a short across the input leads as if
> there had been a meltdown of the armature.
>
> My wife and I bought this vehicle from you had have had excellent service
> both from you and the vehicle. The annoying part of this incident is that I
> doubt if that window had ever been opened. My wife noticed the fault in the
> window over the winter, but was in no rush to have it repaired under the
> extended warranty because we didn't realize it ended at 100K KM and we are
> now just past that at 102K KM. Lastly It is very irritating to pay all this
> money to repair a component that has absolutely nothing wrong with it save
> bad design Or was assembled without the proper insulation material in the > first place.
>
> I am quite prepared to call this just the cost of doing business so to
> speak. However we are living on a fixed income and in as much as this repair
> was totally needless, if there is some way that GM can cover the cost it
> would be appreciated.
>
> Signed Bill Darby
>
> They chose to turn a blind eye to the problem.
>
> Bill Darby
>
>
> > I have a 93 Buick LeSabre. The rear driver side power window works
> > intermittantly. When it does work, I can get it to go down from fully
> > closed and up to fully closed, then nothing but a click from the motor > each
> > time I press the button. (Motor gets warm, probably due to being unable > to
> > transfer electrical energy into moving the window). If I take the housing
> > off the motor and remove the rotor/shaft, reinstall it then it works again
> > (per above). Is this some kind of "limit switch" problem? (or isn't > there
> > any limit switches). Perhaps the motor just heats up quickly and windings
> > short out? Or perhaps the window needs lubrication?
> >
> >
>
>